SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Mike Olason
Location of Photo:
Tucson, Arizona
Date/Time of photo:
2026 June 5, 1012UT
Equipment:
SeeStar S50
Description:
Comet 220P/McNaught has developed a brownish red dust tail a week after its brightness increased 7,000 times as it either collided with something or had a major eruption as it approaches perihelion in its orbit on June 14, 144 million miles from the Sun. On the morning of June 5, the comets coma was 7 arc minutes wide and its dust tail was now 4.2 arc minutes long to the upper right of the comet's coma. The comet's magnitude was calculated at 8.7, the same as the morning of June 4. Unfortunately, the 78% illuminated Moon was only 53 degrees to the WSW which did not help observing the comet's coma or tail. One would assume that if there are no further eruptions the comet should become fainter with most of the coma debris forming a nice longer tail.
